Basketball Ireland round up: League finals

C&S UCC Demons exacted some sweet revenge over rivals Killester in the Champions Trophy final as the National Cup champions defeated the Premier League winners 79 – 60.

Killester had won the sides’ previous meeting in Cork when they stunned Demons 69 – 93 in UCC’s Mardyke Arena, a result that all but ended Demons’ hopes of winning the Premier League.

In searching for that second trophy of the season, Demons opted for size in their starting line-up, giving French forward Christian Anon a spot in the first five. Anon responded by being the game’s top scorer pouring in 19 points in the contest along with collecting the game’s MVP honours.

Anon’s scoring touch along with the playmaking of Hosford and a combined 30 points from Lehmon Colbert and Colin O’Reilly meant that Demons simply had too much firepower for their Dublin opponents on the day.

While neither team shot the ball exceptionally well, Killester will be particularly disappointed with their three-from-18 stat from behind the three point arc as the long range effort has been such an integral part of their attack all season.

Meanwhile earlier in the day, an awesome performance from Team Montenotte Hotel saw the cup champions add the Women’s Premier League title to their 2014 trophy cabinet, defeating UL Huskies 81 to 71.

Led by a combined 44 points from sisters Grainne and Niamh Dwyer, Montenotte dominated from start to finish as they crushed Huskies’ hopes of a historic fourth league title in a row.

While Montenotte were tipped by many to upset the favourites Huskies, few could have predicted just how superior they would be on the day.

From the start however, Montenotte looked like a team brimming with confidence as they went toe to toe with the league champions and led by four at the half time break.

The decisive run then came in the final minutes of the third quarter when Cork outfit’s lead ballooned from six to 15 behind some stunning outside shooting by game MVP Grainne Dwyer.

Controlling the rebounding battle, and with it the tempo of the game, Montenotte never really looked in trouble from that point onwards. While Rachel Clancy would do her best to keep Huskies in touching distance it was not to the Limerick ladies’ day.

The win completed what has been a remarkable 3 month run for Montenotte who have lost just once in 2014 during which time they have collected a National Cup and Women’s Premier League title.

Sunday’s basketball action from Cork had begun with the League Cup final meeting of Dublin Inter and Belfast Star and after having lost the National Cup final in January to Demons, Inter were delighted to exit the season with silverware, defeating Star 73 – 67.

On Saturday, Meteors and Tralee Imperials also left Cork with silverware in the shape of the Women’s Premier League Shield and Women’s Division One titles respectively.

Meteors had to overcome the challenge of Ulster Rockets in their final and in particular the hot hand of Kerri Shields whose game high 28 points included four three pointers.

It was not be enough for the women from Belfast, however, as the general team defence and fastbreak play of Meteors saw them emerge as deserving winners with Beth Meany (22 points) picking up the game’s MVP award.

In the Women’s Division One final, Tralee Imperials defended their 2013 crown by once again defeating the team that had bested them in the cup final the previous January.

In 2013 Imperials lost to Dynamos in the cup final before beating them in the league final while Saturday they bested Portlaoise Panthers 58 – 38, just two months after Panthers defeated the women from the Kingdom in the 2014 cup final.

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